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Lana Wood

Svetlana Smedley (born March 1, 1946; as Svetlana Nikolaevna Gurdin), better known as Lana Wood, is an American actress and producer born to Russian emigré parents, Nikolai and Maria Zakharenko.

Lana Wood's parents were Russian, but they grew up far from their homeland: her father lived in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, while her mother grew up in a Chinese province. After her parents were married, they settled in Santa Monica, California, where Lana was born. By this time her parents had legally changed their surname to Gurdin.

Her sister, Natalie Wood, was named after director Sam Wood when Natalie first launched her child acting career. When Lana made her film debut, with sister Natalie in The Searchers (1956), their mother was asked under what last name should Lana be credited, and Maria agreed it would be best if she could be credited as "Wood", like her famous sister.

In 1970, Lana Wood pictures were published in Playboy. The Playboy pictures appeared in the April 1971 issue, along with Wood's poetry. This and many other factors lead to her being cast as bond girl Plenty O'Toole in the 1971 James Bond film:"Diamonds Are Forever." Her character may be brief in the movie, but is beloved by many fans. Two of Lana's scenes as Plenty O'Toole in Diamonds Are Forever were deleted from the final film but are now available on DVD. The first scene is a deleted scene of Lana having dinner with Sean Connery. The second scene took place after Lana was thrown half naked into the pool; she returned to James Bond's apartment, soaking wet, wearing nothing but a white towel and to get the rest of her clothes and see what has become of Bond and sees him making love to Tiffany Case (Jill St. John). Before leaving, an agitated Lana took a card out of Tiffany's purse with her address on it; this second scene accounted for her death later in the film.

Wood had participated in more than 20 other films or television shows through her career, including:"Peyton Place". She retired from acting in 1982, concentrating on her career as a producer. But recently she is an in demand actress in such diverse projects (and upcoming ones) as: "The Book of Ruth: Journey of Faith","War of Heaven","War of Heaven","Renovation","You'll Never Amount to Anything","Wild Michigan", and "Holly, Jingles and Clyde 3D."

She continues to enjoy the process of working in film and television and is blessed with a loving family.